A Boat And A Pair Of Eyes
by AlexaNDYE
Summary: As the owner of Twitter Perotta, i've decided to write a RottaBoat. Actually, I had the urge to ; . Summary: Sully comes back from his trip only to find out that he might be falling for his new partner, Perotta. B&B and RottaBoat pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Agent Perotta, Agent Bail, Agent Harris, Agent Far, Agent Rachel and Agent Julia were all sitting around the oval table in the conference room. Agent Rachel and Agent Far tapped their pen caps on the table while everyone else waited patiently. What were they waiting for exactly? Director Cullen had called them in ten minutes ago and since Cullen's words should never be taken lightly, they all immediately rushed to the room.

"And he yells at us for being six point four seconds late." Agent Harris rolled his eyes and grinded his teeth together.

"Maybe he had to finally take a bathroom break." Agent Rachel giggled.

Agent Julia started to smirk. "Yesterday, I watched him closely and he seemed to never get up to go to the bathroom."

"Maybe he has a bladder the size of a melon." Agent Bail chuckled with a wide smile on his face.

"Or maybe the size of his head." Agent Far laughed. Agent Perotta was about to laugh too but a tall figure entered the conference room. Agent Far kept on laughing until he felt a thick stack of papers on the top of his head.

"Believe me, I do take short bathroom breaks and my bladder is surely not the size of a melon," Director Cullen announced. " or the size of my _head_." He briefly glared down at Agent Far.

Everyone stared up at the Director and immediately cleared their throat, hoping that they wouldn't get in trouble. The Director waved his hand. "Pass out the papers to everyone, Agent Far."

Agent Far sent the packets of papers around the table.

"We have an Agent joining us. He isn't new, he's just back from a short trip." Cullen didn't even have to turn his head.

The Agent walked into the conference room suited up with a solid black tie and a silver plated belt buckle. His hair was dark brown and somewhat floppy. It was as if his hair had just gotten out of a cotton candy machine. It looked combed and yet somewhat sophisticated or at least in Agent Perotta's eyes.

"This is Agent Sullivan." Director Cullen introduced him to the group.

"Well if it aint Timmy." Agent Harris widened his smile.

"Long time no see." Sully laughed and immediately walked over to give him a brotherly hug. He greeted Agent Far, Bail and Julia. All four of them knew Sully but Agent Perotta and Rachel had yet to even know why Director Cullen let him disrupt his own little area.

"Agent Sullivan." Director Cullen scornfully called out his name.

"Sorry, Sir." Sully apologized.

"Sit next to Agent Perotta so we can begin the meeting." He took out his own packet of notes.

He nodded and quietly walked over to the seat next to the blonde Agent. He looked over at her and saw a familiar face. She didn't look over at him nor did she want to. There was something familiar about his face. It was as if she had seen him before, before the FBI, before her training… before she finished college. It was something she couldn't put her tongue on.

"There are three cases that we're putting on pursuit this week. Team one, Agent Far and Agent Rachel. You two will be taking the maniac that's been shooting people from a wide variety of buildings. Directions are in the file I gave you. FBI forensics will be waiting for you." Director Cullen told them.

"Yes, Sir." Agent Far nodded before getting up from his seat. Agent Rachel walked out of the conference room while Far went over to quickly pat Sully on the shoulder.

"It's nice to have you back, Sully." He whispered.

Sully turned his head and quickly smiled.

"Agent Bail, Agent Julia and Agent Harris will take the serial killer on Fourth Street. Directions are in the file and FBI forensics will be awaiting your arrival." Cullen watched as the three walked out of the conference room.

"Take care of our little guy, Agent Perotta." Harris said with a wink before leaving the room.

Agent Perotta widened her smile and turned her head to glance at him. Sully returned her glance and smiled. She knew him. His hair, his eyes and his smile; it was all slowly coming together.

"You two will be teamed up with Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan. They need more helping hands with the big case they got themselves into. I'll give you guys some time to get to know each other since you'll be spending _a lot_ of time together. Report to Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan at the Jeffersonian and you'll be helping with the case when needed."

"Yes, Sir." Agent Perotta stood up with authority.

"Agent Sullivan."

"Yes?" Sully stood up as well.

"You'll be taking the office next to Agent Perotta's. Agent Jill is on a maternal leave." With that said, the Director left the two partners in the room.

Sully looked over at his partner and put a hand out. "Hi, I'm Agent Tim Sullivan but you can call me Sully."

"Agent Peyton Perotta." She responded and happily shook his hand.

"Have we, um, met before?" He raised his eyebrow at her.

"I don't think so." She walked out of the conference room and towards her office.

"Are you sure?" He called after her.

"Yep." She nodded, walking past a couple desks.

"It's kind of weird. In the pit of my stomach, it feels like I've met you before."

"Maybe that's your breakfast saying hello." She glanced over her shoulder, harshly smiling.

"Wow, you're all business, huh?" He said playfully.

She turned around, folded her arms and stopped him in his tracks. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're obviously pissed about something. Either that or you have a bee up your butt." He joked. "People have said you _do_ take work seriously."

"I understand that you've lost a partner Agent Sullivan and so have I. Just because I've moved on about it and you haven't doesn't mean work is something to joke around about. Everyday someone dies. Everyday we try to decrease those numbers. So instead of thinking that you _know_ me, try to think that _you_ don't _know_ me, because you don't." She stared at him scornfully.

"Why wouldn't I want to know you?" He ignored every hurtful word she said and focused on the last bit.

"Because I'm not someone you want to get close to. Besides, I heard you were sexually attracted to Dr. Brennan." Perotta turned around and walked back towards her office.

"That was a _long_ time ago." He sped up and stopped in front of her, making her abruptly stop. "What's wrong with people getting close to you?"

"We should really get on the case." She told him.

"Hey." He gently tugged on her hand. His voice was gentle yet serious. It made her feel protected and loved. His voice soothed her—wait, it soothed her!? "We're going to be partners for a long time. It'd rather get to know my new partner than let another one die because of my stupid mistakes."

She looked down at his hand and then up at him. "Your mistakes weren't stupid, Sully. They were heroic." Sully's grip slowly slipped, letting Perotta's hand fall to her side. "We should leave in ten minutes."

Perotta had already walked into her office leaving Sully in the middle of a hall. Something about her made him smile. Her attitude and the space in her eyes made him feel kind of funny; the good kind of funny. Was it love? Or was it just another partnership? If it were love, he would've already jumped her. He immediately ruled love out of the list.

* * *

Booth and Brennan walked out of Brennan's office. They were bickering as usual. Angela stood by the sidelines and couldn't help but laugh at the pair. They were a sight for sore eyes. Frustrating yes, but cute nonetheless.

Agent Perotta and Sully walked through the Jeffersonian sliding doors and were bickering as well.

"I did not dent your car!" Sully tried to tell her.

"Whatever." Perotta rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I admit that my keys bumped into it and maybe there's a little scratch but I did not make a dent!" He tried to tell her.

"You scratched my car?" She asked with burning flames scorching out from her eyes. She stood there with her left hand resting on her hip.

'Oh boy…' Sully thought. He politely smiled. "I can fix it for you, Eyes."

"Eyes?" Perotta furrowed her eyebrows before shaking her head. "Don't try to change the subject."

"I didn't, you did." He tried not to smile. "Eyes is my nickname for you."

"Call me Eyes one more time and I swear, I'll drop a dictionary on your crotch." She whispered with a devious smile. Sully widened his eyes and felt Perotta's shoulder brush against his when she walked passed him. He swallowed slowly and tried to smile.

"That's a nice feeling on the first day." He nervously whispered to himself. He turned around and followed his partner from a safe distance.

Booth shook his head at his Bones and smiled. "You realize how many times I've told you to stop staying so late?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Do you want a rough estimate or an approximate number?"

"Nevermind, Bones." He smirked.

"But you—"

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan." Perotta called out.

They both turned their heads to see Sully and Perotta walking towards him.

"Agent Perotta." Booth nodded. He looked behind her and smiled. "Well if it isn't Agent Sailboat."

Brennan furrowed her eyebrows up at Booth. "That's Sully, Booth." He looked down at his partner with a sarcastic look. "Oh." She blinked and looked over at Sully. She was hoping nothing was going to start up between them, not again, not after everything she's been through. He was a great guy, yes, but she was afraid that she'd be abandoned again. He didn't necessarily abandon her… he was too sweet.

"Hey Tempe, hey Booth." He greeted them.

"So Director Cullen put you on our case?" Booth tried to be polite.

"Yup." Sully nodded.

"So far, we've identified two of the victims. Booth is already on a lead – I think."

"Yes, Bones. I've already gotten us a lead. You two can help out the squints until I've got something I can't do." He harshly smiled at them.

"We should be working together, Agent Booth. More hands equal less work." Perotta crossed her arms.

"To you maybe. Cullen put you two on this case, not me."

"You wouldn't want me to call him, would you?" She challenged him with those eyes of hers.

"Eyes, settle down. If Booth wants us to help out around the lab, we should." Sully tried to calm her down.

"Do you really want that dictionary to turn into an encyclopedia?" Perotta angrily whispered back to him with those devilish eyes of hers. They were very demonic at that time. At this point, Sully knew when to back off.

"Sorry." He gasped and took a cautious step back.

"Perotta." Booth pressed his lips together.

"Booth." She replied back.

"This is _my_ case. You can call Cullen all you want; I don't care."

Brennan saw the fire in both of their eyes. She had never seen Booth this angry about a case before. It was a little weird but quite entertaining. She was kind of scared that Perotta might actually drop a dictionary on someone's crotch. She seemed desired to do so at that moment.

"Hm." Brennan hummed.

"If you don't give me access to the case and all of the evidence I will shove my foot so far up your ass you'll forget how to pee." Perotta uncrossed her arms. Power radiated from her body. Sully, standing behind her, made an awful disgusted face. Brennan on the other hand widened her eyes in astonishment.

Booth stood there with his shiny cocky belt buckle and flashy dark red tie. He looked down at her and moved his chin under. He drew his mouth open and heavily sighed.

"Fine." He breathed. "Access to the case and the evidence but that's it. Bones and I do the interrogating."

"Fair enough." Perotta nodded. "You've gotten better while I've been away."

"Your threats are still vivid and grotesque." Booth straightened his tie and smiled.

"Okay, now I'm scared." Sully commented.

"There's one more victim to identify. Do you want to take a look at the remains, Agent Perotta?" Brennan questioned Perotta's curiosity.

"I'd love to." She nodded and proceeded to follow her to the forensic platform. Sully faked a smile at his leaving partner. He wondered if he was capable of handling her. Someday, that dictionary slash encyclopedia will drop and her foot will be up. He looked up at the ceiling and mouthed, 'Please, don't let that happen.'

"Like your new partner?" Booth asked, walking towards him with a slight smile on his face.

"I have to admit. I'm a little scared." Sully chuckled.

"She gets easier day by day." He tried to reassure him.

"When I see it, I'll believe it." He watched his partner observe the remains with his ex-girlfriend. He wanted to connect with her somehow. He wanted to talk to her without mentioning threats of shoving body parts up places. A nice, civilized and calm chat would be nice. He looked over at Brennan and smiled. At least _she_ seemed okay. After one last glance at Booth, Sully decided to visit Cam in the Autopsy room.

* * *

Sully curiously walked into the Autopsy room and saw Cam cleaning some of the tools in the sink. He smiled and saw blood all over the place. He looked over at the autopsy table and saw one of the victims. He loomed over the body and saw maggots squirming inside.

"Oh god." Sully covered his mouth in disgust.

Cam swiftly turned around in shock. Once she saw a familiar face, she let out a breath of fresh air. "Don't scare me like that, Sully."

"Sorry." He apologized. "God, that's disgusting…"

"What'd you expect, little happy oompa-loompas?" She widened her smile.

"Well… yeah." He joked. Sully cautiously walked around the table and towards her. "So how's my favorite gut and flesh person?"

"Doing very well." She smiled. "When'd you get back?"

"Yesterday; sorry I didn't call. I had to loosen a few ropes to get back into the FBI."

"Ah, so who's your partner now?" Cam put the wet tools on the try to dry. She turned to face him and quickly pulled off the latex gloves.

"Eyes—I mean, Agent Perotta." He nervously laughed.

"I see you already have a nickname for her."

"Yeah, she doesn't like it very much."

"So did Director Cullen put you two on Booth and Brennan's case or are you two just here to visit?"

"He put us on the case. Perotta's already in the big loop. I think she and Tempe are checking out the victims down at the forensic lab." He pointed behind him.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" Cam narrowed her eyes at him and began to smirk.

"Wha—what?" He widened his eyes. "I'm not in love with Eyes—"

"I meant Dr. Brennan." Cam suspiciously eyed him.

"Oh—no, that's all in the past. The past is the past." He nodded. "Besides, Booth and Tempe are… together… right?"

Cam shook her head. "You came back a little too early. I'd give it a couple more years."

"Wow." Sully whistled and looked back at the forensic lab. "They really need that long?"

"Tell me about it. I think by the time they finally realize their feelings for each other, I'll be married and have two kids."

Sully laughed and widened his smile. He saw his beautiful blonde partner look at the decomposed bodies. He winced in disgust. "How can she even stand the smell?"

"Hm?" Cam hummed.

"Eyes isn't even flinching." He was slightly impressed.

"She's been Dr. Brennan's temporary partner a couple times. Booth got kidnapped, accused of murder and became incapacitated." She told him.

"A lot's changed since I was gone." He turned to watch his partner again. Perotta folded her arms and watched Brennan point out a few marks. She nodded a couple times before speaking. After a couple seconds, she turned around and bent over to take a look. Sully stared at her butt. Two seconds later, he quickly turned away and hoped that Cam wasn't watching him.

"Hey, Sully."

"Yeah?" He turned to face her.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, anything." He politely nodded.

"Are you in love with Agent Perotta?"

"Wha—What? What are you talking about?" Sully faked a laugh. "She's my partner and besides, FBI agents aren't supposed to be dating."

"So you do love her—"

"I never said I did…" Sully swallowed hard.

"I know that look, Sully. You had that same look when you were with Dr. Brennan." Cam told him. "It's no use lying to me and don't even try to lie to Angela."

"I have this feeling, deep inside my stomach, and it's telling me that I know her."

"Well you should know her, she's your partner—"

"No, not in that way… I feels like I've known her for years but I just met her today."

Cam furrowed her eyebrows. "So what you're saying is, you think you've known her in the past but in the present, you've just met her?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I think I've asked her out before."

"Have you tried asking her—?"

"Already did. She claims she's never seen me before – well until now." He tried to clarify.

"Are you sure—"

"Those gorgeous eyes are hard to miss." He confessed with a warm smile and looked over at his partner. She had her arms crossed against her chest. After a couple seconds, she looked in his direction and caught him staring. He smiled at her and she gently smiled back. She looked somewhere else when Brennan pointed out something on the victim's body that sat on top of the metal table.

"So when are you going to ask her out?" Cam joked with a smirk.

Sully kept on staring at his partner. "Never."

"Why not? You two seem like a good match."

"Really now?" Sully smirked, furrowed his eyebrows and turned to look at her.

"Well, I'm not a match maker…"

"Eyes is my partner and besides, it's against the rules to date someone you work with."

"What about Dr. Brennan?" Cam raised an eyebrow.

"I was dating Tempe when Booth got reinstated which means, she wasn't my temporary partner anymore. So clearly, it was okay." He smoothed out the creases in that part of the conversation.

"Okay, fine. You go at your own pace." Cam tried to get out of the conversation. "Don't make me tell you 'I told you so' when you end up marrying her."

"Very funny, Cam. Very funny." He shook his head at her. Sully was about to walk out of the Autopsy room until he saw his partner standing there.

"What's so funny?" Perotta asked, furrowing her eyebrows at the two.

"Nothing." Sully gasped.

Cam shook her head. "It was an inside joke."

"Mhm…" Perotta's lips formed a suspicious smile.

"How were the dead bodies?" He smiled up at her.

"They were interesting. Unfortunately, Ms. Montenegro still needs some time identifying the last victim. Until then, we're going to avoid Agent Booth and sniff a trail." Perotta told him.

"Sounds like fun." He nodded before turning to Cam. "See you around, Cam."

"You two have fun." Cam told them. As they took their last step out of the Autopsy room, she immediately shook her head. They were slightly like Booth and Brennan but the unresolved sexual tension wasn't as big. It was like torture; seeing two people that were so right for each other deny every single spec of evidence. "I seriously need to read my _book_ tonight."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Merry Christmas!! :)

* * *

Sully and Perotta jumped out of their black SUV. They had arrived at a beautiful white house. It was a two story building with flowers on the balcony and fresh green grass in the front. It looked like a typical wealthy American house. Sully took off his sunglasses and glanced up at it.

He whistled and heard his partner walk up next to him. "Wow, even I don't have a house like this."

"You don't?" Perotta furrowed her eyebrows. "Does the FBI not pay you a lot?"

"Well… they pay me." He told her. "Why, where do you live?"

"In a two story house."

"Alone?" Sully curiously asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Why? Is there something wrong with living by myself?"

"No… I was just wondering."

"Do you live in an apartment?"

"No. I live in my boat." He told her. Perotta looked over at him with a sorrow expression, as if she felt sorry for him. Sully shook the sympathy off and quickly got back to work. "So, why are we here?"

Perotta took out a duplicate of the case file and opened it. "Booth said that the first victim, Amy Mitch, had a brother. They tracked him down and this address popped up."

"What's the brother's name?"

"Jack Mitch, Caucasian, 26 years-old and—ooh, he's a pretty cute." Perotta showed Sully the picture.

"The cute guy was sentenced to two years in jail for grand theft auto. He got out last year. Falling for the bad guys?" He joked.

"I used to have a thing for bad guys." Perotta admitted.

"Really?" Sully asked. They both started walking towards the front door. "How long did that last?"

"Not long." She quickly and quietly gasped. He felt their conversation turn a wrong corner. He looked over at her and saw a guilty expression. He decided not to push the subject but instead knock on the door. They both waited for a while before knocking again.

"Is he not home?" Perotta furrowed her eyebrows.

"Only one way to find out." He smiled. He knocked on the door again. "FBI, open up."

"Oh that's real smart. Tell that to everyone who just got out of jail, why don't you?" She rolled her eyes.

Sully watched as his partner walked over to an opened window. He looked down at her butt and stared for a few seconds. He quickly looked away and began to mentally smack himself. 'What are you doing!? You don't just do that to a woman! You know better than that!'

Perotta saw the kitchen from the window. There were opened cans of jelly and tubs of peanut butter on the counter. She looked a little further and saw the opened package of bread.

"He was here." Perotta told Sully.

"How can you tell?" He got out of his mental slapping session.

"Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich fixings are still on the counter." Perotta walked over to the door; next to her partner.

"What do you want to do now?" He looked over at her.

"Kick down the door." She suggested with a little smile.

"Wait—what the, kick down the door?" Sully put his hand on her shoulder. It was a slight gesture in hopes of stopping her. He felt the warmth slowly surround his hand. Her shoulder was like a warm cozy cottage.

"Did you want to kick it down, or shall I?" She rolled her eyes at him. He let go of her shoulder and took out his gun from its holster.

"Okay, go ahead." He breathed with a slight sigh. In one swift kick, Perotta made the door swing open. Sully had never seen a FBI Barbie doll kick a door let alone with such extreme force. It amazed him although a bit of jealousy started to slowly creep up. He and Perotta, both with guns fully loaded, walked into the house with caution.

"Mr. Mitch?" Sully instinctively called out.

"Might as well call him Mr. Bitch since he obviously ran away because he _obviously _knew we were coming." Perotta commented.

Sully walked upstairs and entered his bedroom. The clothes in the drawers were gone and so were the jackets in the closet. Everything was gone except for the food, recreational valuables, books and magazines.

"Find anything?" Perotta shouted, entering the kitchen.

"He packed all of his clothes and left." Sully responded, walking down the stairs. "Seems like he hightailed it out of here."

"I really hate it when the suspects disappear." She heavily sighed.

"I'll get a hold of Bank of the West see if we can track his credit card." Sully reassured her, looking down at the mail.

"How do you know he uses Bank of the West?" She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Because he got an unpaid bill in the mail today." He held the envelope up and smiled. "Jackpot."

"This'll make things much easier." Perotta walked over to him and smiled at the thing.

"Now that we have another lead on the original lead; feel like getting some lunch?" He asked with a wide smile.

"I don't do lunch." Perotta told him before snatching the envelope from his hand. "I'll get right on this. You can go eat."

"What—you don't eat lunch?" He asked, shocked and confused. "How can you miss such an important meal of the day?"

"There's work to be done, Sully." She sighed, walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

"C'mon Eyes. Just have a quick bite to eat with me. It won't take more than 10 minutes." He trailed behind her.

"No, Sully. I already told you." She harshly said. Sully watched as his partner climbed into their SUV. He heavily sighed and put on his sunglasses. He looked up at the sky and crooked the side of his mouth. Perotta sat there and looked down at the case file. She looked down at the picture and then at his convictions. She looked closely at the description and then up at Sully. He was closing the door to the house as an instinct. Perotta immediately got out of the car.

"Sully, wait!! Don't!!" She shouted.

Sully had already closed the door. He heard her voice and turned around in confusion. In a split second the whole entire interior of the house blew up in flames. The force of the blast made him go flying off the doorstep and towards a bed of gravel near the grass.

"Sully!" She ran behind the SUV and started to sprint towards him. She kneeled beside him and began to hesitate. She laid his head on her lap and immediately checked his pulse. She rested two fingers against his neck. His loud coughing made her jump. She didn't want to admit it, but he scared her. She almost thought he was dead or maybe it was her past shook her more than ever.

"God—" He coughed again. Perotta sat there, angry and happy at the same time. "I really hate it when that happens."

She sat there speechless while he looked at the burning house. "Looks like we won't be able to get what ever he was hiding _if_ he was hiding something." He looked up at her and at that moment, he realized that he had been resting against her lap the whole entire time. He didn't mind though. He didn't even comment on it.

"You okay?" Sully curiously asked her.

She shook her head and smiled. "I'm just glad _you're_ okay." She admitted.

He smiled back and immediately got up. Perotta got up at the same time. "We should probably call the fire department before the fire gets out of hand."

"We're probably going to have to report to Director Cullen about this."

"He won't be that mad, will he?" Sully looked over at her, furrowing his eyebrows. She looked back at him and shrugged. She had dealt with all sorts of criminals and cases but never did she have a house blow up in front of her.

* * *

"I am furious!" Director Cullen yelled at Sully and Perotta, who sat next to each other in the conference room. "You two barged into the house without realizing that the victim's brother was very familiar with high intensive explosives!"

Sully and Perotta looked at each other. It was neither one if their faults. They both over looked the case file and Perotta had only just realized it after they had broken into the house.

"Someone will be punished for their stupid mistake. Since it was Sully that almost got blown up, I'll be giving you, Agent Perotta, the responsibility to give me a full report on what happened, details and all." Cullen looked down at her.

Perotta nodded and pressed her lips together. Paperwork was a big pain in the ass, especially for the field agents.

"Actually, sir," Sully raised his hand briefly. "It was my fault for overlooking the case file."

"Oh, really?" Cullen raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Perotta's shocked reaction. "Okay then. I expect the full report on my desk by tomorrow afternoon. You got that?"

"Yes." Sully nodded. He looked over at his partner and smiled. She was still shocked that he did that for her. No one has ever done that for her. Usually people were happy to get out of the paperwork duty.

"Dismissed." He announced before walking out of the conference room. Once it was clear that he left, Sully stood up and walked towards the door. Perotta trailed behind him.

"You know, you didn't have to do that Sully."

"Why not? It was my fault for making fun of your 'cute boy' comment. It was probably why we overlooked the guy's explosive hobby in the first place." He opened the door and held it open for her. She held it open and proceeded to trail behind him.

"You and I both know it wasn't because of that."

"It's okay Perotta. I'll do the report tonight." He tried to tell her.

"No. I'm not going to let the guy who almost got blown up write the whole entire thing. We can work on it together." She folded her arms across her chest.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'd feel guilty if you worked on it by yourself." She nodded.

He gave a slight smile and turned his head. "Okay, if you want to. We can work on it at my place."

"Wait, on your boat?" She curiously asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"You don't get seasick, do you?"

"No…"

"Good. Don't eat dinner. I'll cook something." He told her. She stopped in the middle of the hall with her mouth wide open in shock.

"You can cook?"

He smirked and kept on walking.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Happy New Years! :D

At the Jeffersonian; Booth stood inside Brennan's office. His phone was against his ear. Director Cullen was informing him about the lead Sully and Perotta had gotten from the suspect's house. Booth wasn't surprised about the house exploding, probably because he read the case file while Brennan was doing her squint stuff.

"Yeah." Booth nodded, watching his partner enter her office. She sat at her desk and went on her laptop. She glanced up at him as he finished his conversation. "I'll get right on it."

"Since Sully and Perotta will be busy tonight finishing that full report, I want Dr. Brennan and yourself to go to the victim's house—" Cullen told him.

"The one that blew up?" Booth furrowed his eyebrows and reluctantly looked at his partner, who raised her eyebrows back at him.

"You got a problem with that?"

"No sir." Booth rolled his eyes. "Do you want the squints to look for any clues?"

"Yes. The FBI bomb squad and forensics will be there when you arrive. I want that whole entire area covered." He said with a stern voice.

"You got it, sir." Booth shut his phone and heavily sighed.

"What'd he say?" Brennan asked her partner. He walked over to her couch and sat down with a plop.

"He wants us to go to the house that blew Sully and Perotta up… cover the area… try to find what ever we can find." He told her with a exhausted expression. Brennan widened her eyes but Booth told her before she could make a peep. "Don't worry, they're both okay. They're just in trouble for not noticing that the brother of the victim used to work with explosives."

Brennan didn't know whether to call Sully to check if he's okay or to just stay concerned for the both of them. "Tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah." Booth nodded. "I'll pick you up unless you want to meet at the Jeffersonian first."

"Jeffersonian first, I need to grab my equipment before we go to the field." She looked at her laptop and started checking her email.

Booth rested his head against the top of the couch and closed his eyes. "Why do we have to do the dirty work?"

"Well it could've been the other way around, Booth. You could've gotten blown up, again." She responded without looking away from her computer.

"Good point," He opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling and raised his eyebrow. "I think."

* * *

That night, Perotta parked her car in the parking lot that sat right in front of the dock. She looked at all of the boats and spotted one of them. Its lights were on. It was very obvious that it was Sully's. Perotta got out of her car and grabbed the case file before slamming the car door and locking it. She walked down the dock and stopped in front of Sully's boat. She took a good look at it and wondered why he would ever want to live his life in that thing. There was no door on it nor was there any door bell. Perotta crooked the side of her mouth and decided to yell for him.

"Sully!?" She curiously yelled, being very cautious of her surroundings.

"Over here!" Sully yelled back. Perotta furrowed her eyebrows and turned the corner. She found Sully on the connecting dock, grilling something in a griller. It smelled really good.

"What are you doing?" She smirked, walking towards him.

"Cooking." He told her with a wide smile. He cut off a piece and stabbed it with a fork. He held it in her direction and she gladly took it. She wrapped her mouth around the piece of meat and slid it off. Perotta widened her eyes in amazement.

"Wow, this is really good – what is it?" She chewed.

"Classic Sirloin Steak with a touch of Sully." He joked. He popped a lid on the grill and faced her. He widened his eyes once he saw what she was wearing. She looked back at him and then at her blue jeans.

"What?" She looked up at him again.

"Nothing…" He gasped. "… It—I've just never seen you in jeans before."

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She rolled her eyes with a smile.

"I just might." He said, glancing down at her. Perotta smirked and playfully whacked him on the arm. He laughed and told her he'd meet her on the boat. "Let me grab these off the grill and I'll meet you inside the boat.

"Okay." She turned and boarded the boat with caution. Sully grabbed the steaks and lowered them onto a stainless steel pan. He climbed onto the boat and placed the pan on the table that was right near the deck. Perotta sat on the deck and was gazing at the horizon. Her mouth was ajar and her eyes sparkled. It was quite the sight for her.

"You like?" He gasped, making her almost jump. She smiled and nodded.

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah…" He said, watching her instead of the horizon. "…It's really amazing."

"Does it always look this colorful?" She asked. Perotta was about to turn to get off the deck. At that moment, Sully immediately looked at the horizon instead of her.

"Um, yeah. It sure is colorful this time of year." He nervously nodded in agreement. He gently tugged on her sweatshirt but before he could acknowledge his actions, Perotta looked down at his hand that was still grasping her sweatshirt. She looked up at him and waited for his reaction but all she saw was his blank expressionless face. She looked down at his hand again.

"Um, Sully…" She hinted to him. Sully looked down at his hand and slowly started to ease his grasp on her. Perotta smirked and walked towards the table where the steaks were. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Sully widened his eyes and turned to face her. "I—I, uh – I kind of spaced out there." A poor excuse but an excuse nonetheless.

"Mm, they smell good." She immediately changed the subject, hinting Sully that she no longer wanted to linger around that moment.

"Yeah. They aren't that hard to cook." Sully admired his cooking skills.

"Maybe someday you could teach me how to cook them."

He looked over at her while they both took their seats. They both caught each other's gaze and before they knew it, they both grew wide smiles. "Someday."

* * *

After a warm meal surrounded by a colorful horizon, the two began to work on their report inside the boat. There was a table inside the boat, covered by wooden sliding doors. Inside was a portable plug in heater that Perotta had immediately grown attached to. Sully walked inside and sat down next to her. Perotta was on Sully's laptop, typing away on their full detailed report.

"How's it going?" He asked her, sneaking a peak at the monitor.

She glared at him before looking back at the monitor. "Well so far, I've covered everything but the explosion _you_ set off."

Sully furrowed his eyebrows and innocently looked at her. "Hey, I'm the one who got blown up though so maybe a little sympathy would be nice. And besides, you were the one that over looked the fact that the victim's brother, a.k.a 'cute guy'," he air quoted with his fingers, " was a mastermind of explosions and kaboomies."

"Don't get snappy with me, Sully. You're the one that had to close the door on the way out."

"Oh, so you're punishing me for being a gentleman and an anti-burglar?" He shook his head at her.

"Fine then. If _you_ feel this compelled in becoming a gentleman, then why don't you," Perotta moved the laptop so that it faced him," finish the rest of the report."

Sully, with his mouth completely ajar, looked at her and then at the laptop. "You know what – fine. Fine, I'll finish the report for us. You owe me one Eyes."

"I do not owe you one, I finished most of the report – and why do you keep on insisting in calling me that stupid nickname of yours? It's really childish of you." She crossed her arms and leaned against the wooden sliding door that felt like a nice backboard.

Sully frowned like a child. His bottom lip plumped up and his eyebrows were furrowed. He looked at her with that puppy dog face. "What, you don't like my nickname for you?"

Perotta stared at him and eventually shook her head. "You're such a weirdo." She gasped. Sully laughed and began to type out the rest of the report. After a couple minutes, Perotta moved next to him to make sure that he wasn't putting any funny sentences in there. She moved her head next to his and glanced at the monitor. He then began to slowly glance at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked her. His breath brushed against her cheek a little.

"Making sure that you don't put anything in our report that could jeopardize our jobs." She responded.

"You think I'd actually do that, after all the hard work you've already put into this thing?" He pointed at his laptop and waited for her reaction.

She looked up at him and lingered there for a moment. Sully began to slowly gaze down at her lips and then at her eyes. Just when he thought something was about to happen, Perotta nodded.

"Yeah." She agreed, cutting the moment and the sexual tension that she obviously didn't notice.

Sully heavily sighed and kept on typing. "Well because it's almost midnight, I really can't find the energy to upset you." His words were endearing to her.

"That's very sweet of you and at the same time, not like you at all." She smiled.

"What? C'mon. You've known me for a day and you act as if you already know everything there is to know about me." He chuckled.

"As an FBI Agent, we have to make quick decisions." Perotta told him. Her eyes started to flutter. The word midnight kept floating through her mind; in other words, she was ready to fall asleep. The rocking of the boat and her drowsiness danced with each other and just like that, she had already closed her eyes.

"So, in a day, you've come to the conclusion that I'm the type of guy that always fools around but also tries to be a gentleman?" He asked her. After a few seconds, he felt something hit his shoulder. He glanced in her direction and saw her eyes closed, her mouth slightly open and her head resting on his shoulder. Sully smiled and pressed the period key on his laptop. Right when she passed out, he had finished their report. He gently closed his laptop and silently moved his partner so that she was sleeping on the cushions right near the table. He watched her sleep for a couple seconds before getting some blankets out from a small compartment inside the small room. He laid one blanket over her before whispering in her ear.

"Good night, Eyes."

His gentle voice made her stir. She grasped the blanket and began to tuck her legs in. Sully widened his smile and before he knew it, he was sleeping on the adjacent side with his head resting right next to hers.

* * *

Booth and Brennan had arrived at the scene of the explosion. They both climbed out of the car and slowly gazed upon the mess that had been made. Booth took off his sunglasses and whistled.

"Wow, Sully sure did a number on the house."

"I don't see any numbers." Brennan gasped, waiting for his response. He glanced over at her with such an open mouth. After all these years they've spent together, she still hasn't gotten the hang of his figures of speech.

"You know, Bones, one day I'm going to buy you a book on figure of speeches and I'll _make sure_ that you read it." He smiled in her direction, watching where he was walking. They both made their way closer to the house with the FBI bomb squad and forensics already trailing behind them.

"I don't see why Cullen wants me to be here seeing as how there are no fleshless corpses in sight." The forensic anthropologist glanced up at her partner.

"Well you are the best, Bones." He chuckled.

"I'm the best in my field as well as yourself but since there are no corpses in sight, I can go back to the Jeffersonian and work on the victims that are waiting for me on the forensic platform." She turned around and started to walk back to the car.

"But—Bones…" Booth looked at the mess before chasing after his partner. "I'm sure Cullen just wanted you to take a look at the mess – you know, take some pictures, give them to Angela, recreate the explosion—that kind of stuff." He tried to make her feel useful.

"Booth, unless there's some kind of corpse lying around, I see no point in staying here." She was about to climb back into Booth's SUV until one of the FBI Forensics called her name.

"Um, Dr. Brennan." The guy said loudly.

At this point, both Booth and Brennan looked in his direction. The FBI forensic guy held up something with a pair of tweezers. It was a little white and a little tan. It looked like a small bone from a human. The sun did not help at all. Brennan walked up to the forensic guy and took the tweezers from him, still holding up the bone.

"What is it Bones?" Booth asked, standing next to her.

"It's a phalange." Brennan's mouth was ajar. She looked at her partner and he looked back at her.

"Great…" Booth sighed.

"Get everyone to thoroughly search the entire area. The bone fragments were probably scattered when the explosion occurred." With that said, Brennan cautiously made her to the mess.

"You heard her. Everyone thoroughly search the area." Booth heavily sighed before looking at the scattered pieces of wood and glass. "This is going to be a long day."

* * *

"You know what really bugs me?" Angela asked Hodgins. She was leaning against his desk, just itching to talk about whatever was on her mind.

Hodigns looked up from his microscope. "The possibility of _more_ faceless victims just waiting to be identified?"

"Besides that." Angela waved his hand at him. She looked at Brennan's empty office and began to furrow her eyebrows. "Did Brennan even come to work today?"

"Yeah." Hodgins told her, looking back down at the particulates that sat in his microscope. "She came here early in the morning and grabbed her stuff. She said Cullen wanted her and Booth at the victim's brother's house."

"You mean the house that blew up?" Angela furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yeah." He responded.

"You see," She complained, "Why does she always get alone time with him?"

"Because they're partners…" Hodgins looked up at her in confusion. "…Why? Am I sensing some jealousy?" He looked back into the microscope.

"No." Angela crossed her arms across her chest. "It's just that – everyone can see that they're perfect with each other. They practically spend ninety percent of their lives with each other. It's been years and they still haven't jumped one another."

Hodgins backed away from his microscope, looked up at her and gave a heavy sigh. "Please don't tell me you're going to play match maker."

"Oh no." She shook her head. "I've already tried that."

"So what _are_ you going to do?" Hodgins asked curiously.

"Mm." Angela hummed. "Nothing." She then began with walk away with a wide smile.

"Oh—wait!?" Hodgins turned to face her back. "Nothing?"

"Yup." Angela nodded before turning to face him. "Why, did you expect me to do something?"

"Well yeah – I mean – you're Angela. You always do something about it." Hodgins became confused. Angela chuckled and walked to her office while he pondered about their conversation.


End file.
